Forget cowboys and stetsons: these days, Texas is the home of
music and barbecue. Tim DeLaughter, Texas native and leader of the
20-plus-piece band the Polyphonic Spree, is a fan of both -
although his most recent experience with the latter was less
successful than his band has been of late. Our first scheduled
interview was cancelled after DeLaughter received second-degree
burns to his right hand in a barbecue misadventure.

"I was doing some cooking outside and my cell phone ignited some
fumes," he says. "The fire blew up."

It could have been disastrous - especially if he had been
wearing his usual Spree outfit, a flowing robe. Instead he is
nursing minor wounds, mere days before the Polyphonic Spree bring
their euphoric, tripped-out choral pop to Australia for the first
time.

The band released one of the most radiantly happy albums of last
year, Together We're Heavy. It was reminiscent of albums
such as the Beach Boys' Pet Sounds and the Beatles' Sgt
Pepper's, and bands such as the Flaming Lips. But it wasn't a
"conscious decision" to make the band sound so uplifting.

"The main objective was to create a sound I'd been looking for
for quite some time," DeLaughter says. "It started out of wishful
thinking when I was recording records with [his old band,
alt-rockers] Tripping Daisy.

It became apparent that what I was thinking about was actually a
whole different group. So I thought, 'This will be something I do
later on in life.' But I ended up doing it a lot sooner."

DeLaughter's window of opportunity arrived in the most tragic of
circumstances when Daisy guitarist Wes Berggren died of a drug
overdose in 1999. His death effectively ended the band he and
DeLaughter had founded with bassist Mark Pirro in 1991.

Nine months later, the Polyphonic Spree had their first show
booked, supporting Grandaddy and Bright Eyes - despite that
DeLaughter still hadn't got things together two weeks
beforehand.

"I kinda had a show to play before there was a group or songs or
anything," he says.

"It was pretty amazing."

Texas has built a reputation for producing some of America's
more bizarre music. In the Polyphonic Spree, the state has spawned
a band that looks like a religious sect.

"I thought the robes would really unify the group, plus be a
really beautiful image, but I found out the robes are just as
distracting as street clothes, so I can't win for losing,"
DeLaughter says.